A scathing attack has been launched on Newcastle and Gateshead by a competitor in the European Capital of Culture battle.

A scathing attack has been launched on Newcastle and Gateshead by a competitor in the European Capital of Culture battle.

The man leading Oxford's bid reportedly claimed intelligent people would not choose Newcastle-Gateshead.

The comments come just days before the Prime Minister announces which British city will win the honour.

Robert Hutchison, leader of Oxford's bid, is reported to have said: "Intelligent people in Europe would not choose either Liverpool or Newcastle-Gateshead.

"Educated people from places like Bologna, Bruges, Geneva, Leiden or Paris would not regard Liverpool and Newcastle-Gateshead as the right city.

"They are not European enough. Oxford is the most European of the six shortlisted cities."

The comments angered supporters of the North East campaign and sparked a quick response.

Jonathan Edwards, the British Olympic triple-jump gold medallist who is backing our bid, said: "It sounds like Oxford is being snooty to me."

Lord Melvyn Bragg, who is also supporting the North East campaign, said: "Newcastle-Gateshead have for centuries looked to northern Europe, and Scandinavia in particular.

"The new arts centre in Gateshead is even called the Baltic."

The last British city to win the accolade was Glasgow in 1990. The other cities on the shortlist for 2008 are Liverpool, Cardiff, Birmingham and Bristol.

The judges are expected to finalise their recommendation to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell later this week, with an announcement expected on June 4.

The winning city could secure more than &#xA3;1 billion in investment, with 22,000 new jobs and an extra 1.5m visitors.

Neil Rami, chief executive of the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative, said: "We have every confidence in the intelligence of the judges appointed to make the decision and clearly we wouldn't be on the shortlist if they hadn't voted for us."

Nobody was available from Oxford Inspires, the organisation behind the city's bid, to explain Mr Hutchison's comments.

In April, the North East came out on top in a live television poll which put the six competing bids to a phone vote.

A total of 52,241 people voted for Newcastle-Gateshead, putting it 727 votes ahead of Liverpool. The other four cities lagged much further behind.

More than 170,000 people have signed up to the Chronicle's Back the Buzz campaign to help clinch the title.